Alignment is a spontaneous behavioral preference of particular body orientation that may be seen in various vertebrate or invertebrate taxa. Animals often optimize their positions according to diverse directional environmental factors such as wind, stream, slope, sun radiation, etc. Magnetic alignment represents the simplest directional response to the geomagnetic field and a growing body of evidence of animals aligning their body positions according to geomagnetic lines whether at rest or during feedings is accumulating. Recently, with the aid of Google Earth application, evidence of prevailing North-South (N-S) body orientation of cattle on pastures was published (Begall et al. PNAS 105:13451-13455, 2008; Burda et al. PNAS 106:5708-5713, 2009). Nonetheless, a subsequent study from a different laboratory did not confirm this phenomenon (Hert et al. J Comp Physiol A 197:677-682, 2011). The aim of our study was to enlarge the pool of independently gained data on this remarkable animal behavior. By satellite snapshots analysis and using blinded protocol we scored positions of 2,235 individuals in 74 herds. Our results are in line with the original findings of prevailing N-S orientation of grazing cattle. In addition, we found that mutual distances between individual animals within herds (herd density) affect their N-S preference-a new phenomenon giving some insight into biological significance of alignment.

Department of Animal Physiology and Immunology Faculty of Science Institute of Experimental Biology Masaryk University Kotlářská 267 2 611 37 Brno Czech Republic

Zobrazit více v PubMed

Learn Behav. 2006 Nov;34(4):366-73 PubMed

Nature. 2006 Dec 7;444(7120):702 PubMed

Bioessays. 2006 Feb;28(2):157-68 PubMed

J Exp Biol. 2010 Oct 1;213(Pt 19):3247-55 PubMed

J Insect Physiol. 2008 Apr;54(4):719-26 PubMed

PLoS One. 2012;7(12):e51100 PubMed

Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2008 Sep 9;105(36):13451-5 PubMed

Biol Lett. 2011 Jun 23;7(3):355-7 PubMed

Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2009 Apr 7;106(14):5708-13 PubMed

Sci Rep. 2012;2:727 PubMed

J R Soc Interface. 2010 Apr 6;7 Suppl 2:S179-91 PubMed

Nat Rev Neurosci. 2005 Sep;6(9):703-12 PubMed

Nature. 2008 Aug 21;454(7207):1014-8 PubMed

J R Soc Interface. 2010 Apr 6;7 Suppl 2:S135-46 PubMed

J Comp Physiol A Neuroethol Sens Neural Behav Physiol. 2011 Jun;197(6):677-82 PubMed

Experientia. 1990 May 15;46(5):528-30 PubMed

PLoS One. 2007 Apr 25;2(4):e395 PubMed

J Exp Biol. 2001 Feb;204(Pt 4):751-8 PubMed

J Exp Biol. 2007 Jul;210(Pt 13):2300-10 PubMed

J Comp Physiol A Neuroethol Sens Neural Behav Physiol. 2011 Dec;197(12):1127-33; discussion 1135-6 PubMed

Proc Biol Sci. 2007 Nov 22;274(1627):2901-5 PubMed

J R Soc Interface. 2010 Apr 6;7 Suppl 2:S193-205 PubMed

J Comp Physiol A Neuroethol Sens Neural Behav Physiol. 2005 Aug;191(8):675-93 PubMed

Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2012 Mar 27;109(13):4774-9 PubMed

Effect of exposure to extremely low frequency magnetic fields on melatonin levels in calves is seasonally dependent

Spontaneous expression of magnetic compass orientation in an epigeic rodent: the bank vole, Clethrionomys glareolus

Dogs are sensitive to small variations of the Earth's magnetic field